Life can be joyful. Life can be tough. One day, it can go in one direction and the next day in the complete opposite way. Life is so complex and unpredictable that it continues to surprise us day after day. It’s miraculous, astonishing, cheerful, but sometimes also devastating. The sad thing is that we are often so preoccupied with fighting the daily struggles of life that we seldom pause to reflect on the beauty of life. It can happen so fast that we completely forget what a marvelous gift life is, especially when confronted with numerous challenges. During these situations, it can be magnificently uplifting to have a couple of inspirational life quotes at hand that helps you to remember how beautiful life really is. In the following, you can find a hand-picked selection of inspirational quotes about life that will put a smile on your face.
When was the last time you stopped for a minute to think about the beauty of your life? When did you pause to remind yourself how blessed you truly are? And when was the last time you really felt grateful for all the beautiful aspects of your life? For many people, it’s a while ago since they reminded themselves of how fortunate they are to be alive in this present day and age.
“The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy – it’s all that matters.”
Audrey Hepburn
There are so many beautiful aspects of life but sometimes, we all need a reminder. Inspirational quotes about life can help you with that. These inspiring life quotes will remind you of the awe-inspiring wonders of existence and the sheer beauty of life. They will also help you to maintain a much brighter outlook on your own life.
Life’s like a swing, it goes up and down.
What makes inspirational quotes about life so unique is that they stem from some of the wisest men and women that have ever lived on this planet. Their remarkable insights about life will help you to not only live a better life but also to live a life that is more fulfilling, meaningful, and optimistic.
If you apply the wisdom of the following life quotes to your own life, you will be able to gradually transform your entire existence.
Here are the fantastic quotes that celebrate life and its various expressions.
111 Inspirational Quotes about Life
Reading inspirational life quotes can be greatly beneficial, especially when you’re going through a difficult time in life. The following quotes will help you to see things in a much brighter light. They will also remind you how beautiful life is and why life is absolutely worth living.
Enjoy these inspirational life quotes!
1. John Lennon on fear and love
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”
John Lennon
Isn’t that a truly remarkable and inspirational quote about life?
If you want to change the world, you must first change yourself. If you are unable to change within, you will never be able to change what is outside.
2. Dr. Seuss on crying
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Dr. Seuss
Letting go of something can be quite painful. Whenever you are confronted with a situation where something has come to an end, don’t cry. Instead of resenting that it’s over, remind yourself of all the beautiful moments. Imagine how much worse it would be if you hadn’t experienced these truly marvelous moments.
3. Al Maktoum on what life is all about
“My theory on life is that life is beautiful. Life doesn’t change. You have a day, and a night, and a month, and a year. We people change – we can be miserable or we can be happy. It’s what you make of your life.”
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
If you allow difficult experiences to break you, you will always be pushed around by life. However, if you use setbacks and failures as stepping stones to success, you will thrive in life. Similarly, if you seek for the lessons that can be found in hardship, you will become a stronger person.
4. John Lennon on counting your age
“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”
John Lennon
Life is all about perception. There are people who have everything they need but feel terribly miserable about themselves. At the same time, there are people who have little to nothing but enjoy each moment of their lives. How you perceive life greatly depends on the way you think. If you have an optimistic outlook on life, you will be more likely to think positively about what happens to you. Similarly, positive thinking will help you to see opportunities where others see only difficulties and challenges.
5. Robert Stevenson on the card game called life
“Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.”
Robert Louis Stevenson
If you have a look at some of the most successful individuals that ever lived, you will see that many of them had the unique ability to turn painful failures into something really great. By learning from these people you will realize that it does not matter so much if life has dealt you some really good or some really bad cards. All that matters is how you are going to use these cards. Some people are totally incapable of using the excellent cards they have been dealt just as much as there are people who resign simply because they have a poor hand.
If you don’t allow this to happen, you will be able to make the best of your situation.
6. Robert Frost on summing up life
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”
Robert Frost
No matter what happens in life, it will not only go on but you will also always find a way.
7. Kahlil Gibran on suffering
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
Kahlil Gibran
No one likes suffering, no one likes difficulties and hardship. Because this is the case, we all seek to evade suffering as much as we can. This, however, is not always possible.
Suffering cannot be avoided. You cannot change the fact that you will have to endure difficult times occasionally. But what do can do is to change how you think about suffering.
In most cases, there is more to suffering than meets the eye. Even though difficult times can be quite painful, they also come with many important lessons and opportunities. For this reason, it’s important to realize that suffering ultimately serves you because it makes you stronger. It makes you confront your fears, it challenges you to go beyond your limits, and it forces you to grow as a person.
8. William Purkey on loving life
“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, love like you’ll never be hurt, sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth.”
William W. Purkey
Of all the inspirational quotes about life, this one is one of the most heartwarming. William Purkey’s thoughts about life are remarkable words to live by.
9. Isak Dinesen on difficult times
“Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever.”
Isak Dinesen
If it wasn‘t for difficult times, living on the sunny side of life would be a lot less meaningful. In fact, many of those who have never had to go through some severe struggles in life are not really able to appreciate the wonders of their daily life. At the same time, those who were confronted with great hardship see life quite different. They do not take everything for granted and they surely are infinitely grateful for their lives.
10. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross on beautiful people
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
What makes these words so inspiring is that they are absolutely true.
Struggling, suffering, and failing are never easy. But it is important to remind yourself during such difficult situations that all these experiences ultimately make you a much stronger person. Going through difficulties will make you more appreciative of your life and helps you to develop gratitude even for the little things in life.
11. Langston Hughes on holding onto your dreams
“Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”
Langston Hughes
What would life be like if it wasn’t for our dreams? Dreams make life exciting and they fuel all our endeavors. If a person doesn’t dare to dream, life becomes mediocre.
12. Mary Oliver on the amazement of life
“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it is over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”
Mary Oliver
When it comes to living life, many people are only spectators. They allow the circumstances of life to push them around without ever steering things in the right direction. Don’t be such a person. Make use of your life and live to the fullest. Don’t allow fears to stop you from pursuing your dreams. Don’t just be a visitor on this planet, be someone who participates and actively helps to make this world a better place.
13. Martha Beck on emotional discomfort
“Emotional discomfort, when accepted, rises, crests and falls in a series of waves. Each wave washes a part of us away and deposits treasures we never imagined. Out goes naivete, in comes wisdom; out goes anger, in comes discernment; out goes despair, in comes kindness.”
Martha Beck
Isn’t it remarkable how difficult times can greatly change us for the better? Of all the other inspirational quotes about life, this one is particularly insightful.
14. John Lennon on the purpose of life
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
John Lennon
The schooling system may prepare a person for their work life but not always for life in general. This particular quote is so remarkable because it shows how a five-year-old can easily see through the illusions that many grown-ups are living with.
15. Sarah Breathnach on dreamers and doers
“The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all the world needs dreamers who do.”
Sarah Breathnach
If you dream all the time without putting your dreams into action, nothing will ever be accomplished. At the same time, if you are busily engaged in something without dreaming of creating something of importance, nothing will ever be built. Instead of making these mistakes, see how you can find ways to realize your dreams.
16. Jack London on living life
“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
Jack London
A life that is not lived is a waste of time. Similarly, it is not so important if you live for 70, 80, or even 90 years. All that matters is that you make good use of the time you have. There are many people who accomplished within 50 years more than people who lived for 100 years.
17. Dominic Mallary on what life is all about
“Our lives are mere flashes of light in an infinitely empty universe. In 12 years of education, the most important lesson I have learned is that what we see as ‘normal’ living is truly a travesty of our potential. In a society so governed by superficiality, appearances, and petty economics, dreams are more real than anything in the ‘real world’. Refuse normalcy. Beauty is everywhere, love is endless, and joy bleeds from our everyday existence. […] Remember that every day contains a universe of potential; exhaust it.”
Dominic Owen Mallary
Don’t strive to be like everyone else, strive to have the courage to be who you really are.
18. Jackson Brown Jr. on having enough time
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
H. Jackson Brown Jr.
If you internalize this beautiful quote, you will see how important it is to use your time in a productive manner instead of wasting it.
19. George Bernard Shaw on what life is really all about
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
George Bernard Shaw
So many people struggle greatly to find their purpose in life. They seek for many years without realizing that it is entirely up to them to give their life a meaning. Your purpose in life is not something that you will stumble across all of a sudden. Instead, it is something that you actively have to create. No one else will ever be able to tell you what your purpose in life is. Similarly, no one else will give your life meaning. It’s your responsibility to give your life meaning and to create your purpose in life.
20. Mahatma Gandhi on the way to live life
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma Gandhi
If you live every day as if it was your last, every single day will matter.
21. George Bernard Shaw on making mistakes
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”
George Bernard Shaw
Making mistakes is frowned upon. Early in life, school teaches us that mistakes are bad. In fact, when we make mistakes, our grades suffer from it. But school is totally different from real life. In real life, you can only learn the great lessons by making mistakes. Those who never fall to the ground will never learn anything about life. As a result, they are living their lives within the confines of their comfort zones. However, those who were strengthened by the trials and tribulations of life are less likely to give up when life gets tough.
If you want to remember only one of all these inspirational quotes about life, choose this one.
22. Bernard Baruch on being who you are
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
Bernard M. Baruch
Bernard Baruch’s insightful statement holds a lot of truth.
Those who really matter to you will always accept you for who you are. These are the people who are most important in your life because they do not love you despite all your faults and imperfections but because of them.
However, those who cannot accept you for who you are may not be the ones who really matter in your life.
23. Yayoi Kusama on rising above the clouds
“I think I will be able to, in the end, rise above the clouds and climb the stairs to Heaven, and I will look down on my beautiful life.”
Yayoi Kusama
Let‘s hope that every one of us can look back on our lives and see a truly marvelous and beautiful existence.
24. Shel Silverstein on listening to the naysayers
“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
Shel Silverstein
Whenever you‘re about to do something that is challenging, you will always be confronted with naysayers who do nothing but tell you that it’s impossible. Don’t allow these people to stop you from pursuing your dreams. Anything is possible for you if only you are determined enough.
25. Paulo Coelho on judging other people’s lives
“We can never judge the lives of others because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path.”
Paulo Coelho
Always remind yourself of this quote when other people judge you unfairly.
It will happen numerous times that there are other people who judge you without even knowing you. There are people who think you are on the wrong path without even fully comprehending on what kind of path you are on. When confronted with these people, it’s important to understand that they will never be able to fully understand what you’re doing.
26. Mae West on living life the right way
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
Mae West
This wonderful quote is absolutely true. What makes this quote so special when compared to the other inspirational quotes about life is that it is so concise but remarkably insightful.
27. Frank Wright on the beauty of life
“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
It can take quite some time (and a lot of suffering) before one is truly able to appreciate the remarkable wonders of life.
28. Isaac Asimov on knowledge and wisdom
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
Isaac Asimov
Knowledge can be quite dangerous if it is not guided in the right direction by wisdom. We all have seen with the construction of the atomic bomb what can happen if knowledge is applied without any wisdom whatsoever.
Instead of seeking to become a person of knowledge, strive to be a person of wisdom. That way you will be able to put all the knowledge you have gathered to a much more beneficial use instead of using it for destructive purposes.
29. Anne Frank on making the world a better place
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
Anne Frank
The beauty of life is that it presents you with opportunities for improvement wherever you go. Don’t let yourself be discouraged by the sheer size of the problems the world is struggling with. Instead of seeking to solve all the issues in the world at once, focus on helping one individual after another. Making this world a better place is not a numbers game. If each and every one of us contributed just a little, the entire world could be transformed. But unfortunately, most are discouraged when they see that they can only affect little, which is why they don’t even try.
30. Natalie Babbitt on being afraid
“Don’t be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don’t have to live forever, you just have to live.”
Natalie Babbitt
As was already mentioned in many of the other inspirational quotes about life, it doesn’t matter so much how long you live. All that matters is that you live and that you make the most of the time you have.
31. Hunter S. Thompson on the journey of life
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!’”
Hunter S. Thompson
While it’s absolutely important to take care of your body and mind, it can be quite dangerous to always play it safe when it comes to living life. Sometimes, you have to take risks in order to gain something better. If you always evaluate options based on the level of safety they promise you, you might never be living life to the fullest.
32. Søren Kierkegaard on understanding life
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Søren Kierkegaard
The great problem about going through difficult times is that only later on you will understand what good came from it. But during the phase in which you’re struggling, you will almost never be able to understand what is happening to you and how it will ultimately benefit you. This inspirational life quote reminds you, therefore, to face the difficulties of your life with courage and to have faith in the fact that answers will come later.
33. Ralph Waldo Emerson on finishing each day
“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Don’t allow what happened yesterday to prevent you from giving your very best in the present moment.
34. Boris Pasternak on the beauty of life
“I don’t like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn’t of much value. Life hasn’t revealed its beauty to them.”
Boris Pasternak
While suffering is never beautiful, the remarkable lessons and opportunities that come with it are. You can learn much more from occasional difficulties than you will ever be able to learn on the sunny side of life. So if you cannot avoid being confronted with setbacks and struggles every once in a while, you should make the most of it.
35. Jeffrey Eugenides on how life shapes us
“Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind.”
Jeffrey Eugenides
The experiences of life greatly shape each and every one of us. Without life’s ups and downs, there would not be much potential for growth.
36. Albert Einstein on the way to live your life
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Albert Einstein
When compared to all the other inspirational quotes about life, this one is especially difficult to interpret. Does Albert Einstein imply that everything that happens in the world is a miracle? Or is he simply implying that the world we are living in, including nature, is a miracle?
37. Martin Luther King on hatred and love
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Evil cannot be overcome by violence. Similarly, darkness cannot be driven out by fighting wars. Only love, mutual respect, love, and empathy can do that.
38. Walt Disney on the most beautiful flower
“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”
Walt Disney
Many people have to go through times of great challenges first before they can truly blossom.
39. Lao Tzu on the greatest treasures
“Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.”
Lao Tzu
Amongst all the other inspirational quotes about life, Lao Tzu’s remarkable insights stand out.
Unfortunately, many people are not simple in their actions, not patient with their friends and enemies, and not at all compassionate towards themselves and others. But if you really want to live a life that is worth living, working in these three important areas can bring remarkable results.
40. Jackson Brown Jr. on living life to the fullest
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
H. Jackson Brown Jr
When you look back at your life, what is more painful: having failed or not having had the courage to explore an opportunity? In most cases, failing is painful for some time but the regret about not having tried lasts a lifetime.
41. Mark Twain on living fully
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Mark Twain
There‘s nothing more to add to this quote.
42. Paulo Coelho on wanting something badly
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
Paulo Coelho
What matters is intention and action. If you do not desire something badly enough, you may not be able to do everything it takes to achieve it. At the same time, only dreaming about something without taking action may not bring you closer to the realization of your dreams.
43. Julian Barnes on books and life
“Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren’t. I’m not surprised some people prefer books.”
Julian Barnes
If only everything that happens in life could be explained just as authors explain their stories in books…
44. Douglas Adams on going where you intended to go
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”
Douglas Adams
When you look at your life you will realize that you’ve not always accomplished all of your goals. But you will also realize that you have many times ended up exactly where you needed to be.
45. Karl Lagerfeld on overestimating the past
“People who say that yesterday was better than today are ultimately devaluing their own existence.”
Karl Lagerfeld
It‘s quite normal to overestimate what happened in the past and to devalue the present moment. It’s a human tendency that is important to overcome.
46. Charles Dickens on suffering
“Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.”
Charles Dickens
Suffering is truly a great teacher. No one will tell you that while you suffer and you may not even realize the important lessons that are taught to you. But after some time has passed, you will realize that even though life shattered you into pieces, it also reassembled you into a much stronger and better shape.
47. Stewart O’Nan on what makes life worthwhile
“You couldn’t relive your life, skipping the awful parts, without losing what made it worthwhile. You had to accept it as a whole–like the world, or the person you loved.”
Stewart O’Nan
When you intensively reflect on everything that has happened to you in your life, you will slowly begin to realize how important all the difficulties in your life were. These experiences were definitely not pleasurable but they surely made your life more worthwhile – in the long run.
48. Steve Maraboli on forgivingness
“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”
Steve Maraboli
Moving on with your life does not only take courage but it also requires from you to be able to forgive yourself and others for what happened.
49. Anaïs Nin on courage
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
Anaïs Nin
Those who always seek to minimize their risks end up limiting their lives greatly. But if you have the courage to explore all the different shapes and nuances of life, you will be rewarded with almost infinite opportunities.
50. Gilda Radner about the uncertainties of life
“Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.”
Gilda Radner
Life will always present you with risks and uncertainties. But if you do have the courage to explore the unknown, you will always be able to make the most of your life.
51. Confucius on how fast you go
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
Confucius
52. Kalu on building your legacy
“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”
Kalu Ndukwe Kalu
53. Cassandra Clare on being born good
“People aren’t born good or bad. Maybe they’re born with tendencies either way, but its the way you live your life that matters.”
Cassandra Clare
54. Bil Keane on the importance of the present moment
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”
Bil Keane
55. Mahatma Gandhi on life and love
“Where there is love there is life.”
Mahatma Gandhi
56. Roman Payne on giving everything
“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful as the dreams that dance in your imagination.”
Roman Payne
57. Salman Rushdie on being the sum total
“I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done, of everything done-to-me. I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. I am anything that happens after I’m gone which would not have happened if I had not come.”
Salman Rushdie
58. Paolo Coelho on finding your path in life
“When you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes. Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools God uses to show us the way.”
Paulo Coelho
59. Khaled Hosseini on getting hurt by the truth
“But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.”
Khaled Hosseini
60. Nicholas Sparks on the people that don’t care
“The saddest people I’ve ever met in life are the ones who don’t care deeply about anything at all. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there’s nothing to make it last.”
Nicholas Sparks
61. T.S. Eliot on risking something in life
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
T.S. Eliot
62. Horton Foote on brave people
“I’ve known people that the world has thrown everything at to discourage them… to break their spirit. And yet something about them retains a dignity. They face life and don’t ask quarters.”
Horton Foote
63. Oprah Winfrey on being thankful for what you have
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough”
Oprah Winfrey
64. Lao Tzu on resisting change
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
Lao Tzu
65. Harvey Fierstein on being a victim
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.”
Harvey Fierstein
66. Eleanor Roosevelt on the purpose of life
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
67. George Bernard Shaw on progress
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
George Bernard Shaw
68. Douglas Adams on learning experiences
“A learning experience is one of those things that says, ‘You know that thing you just did? Don’t do that.’”
Douglas Adams
69. Max Ehrmann on the beauty of life
“With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.”
Max Ehrmann
70. Abraham Lincoln on destroying your enemies
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
Abraham Lincoln
71. Margaret Mead on changing the world
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead
72. Samuel Beckett on trying and failing
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Samuel Beckett
73. Charles Darwin on wasting time
“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
Charles Darwin
74. Oscar Wilde on living life
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
Oscar Wilde
75. Erica Jong on accepting fear
“I have accepted fear as part of life – specifically the fear of change… I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back….”
Erica Jong
76. Leo Tolstoy on seeing the beauty of life
“If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”
Leo Tolstoy
77. Gordon Hinckley on enjoying life
“Life is to be enjoyed, not endured”
Gordon B. Hinckley
78. Alan Saunders on making plans
“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”
Allen Saunders
79. Dale Carnegie on the way you think
“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
Dale Carnegie
80. Peter Shaffer on spending your life
“The trouble is if you don’t spend your life yourself, other people spend it for you.”
Peter Shaffer
81. Eckhart Tolle on the past
“The past has no power over the present moment.”
Eckhart Tolle
82. Sylvia Plath on living in the moment
“Remember, remember, this is now, and now, and now. Live it, feel it, cling to it. I want to become acutely aware of all I’ve taken for granted.”
Sylvia Plath
83. Anaïs Nin on growing as a person
“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”
Anaïs Nin
84. J.K. Rowling on dreaming too much
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
J.K. Rowling
85. Marcus Aurelius on enjoying the beauty of life
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
Marcus Aurelius
86. Emily Dickinson on what makes life sweet
“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.”
Emily Dickinson
87. Ben Okri on authenticity
“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.”
Ben Okri
88. Albert Sweitzer on the importance of other people
“Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.”
Albert Schweitzer
89. Suzanne Weyn on life
“Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.”
Suzanne Weyn
90. Jodi Picoult on putting the pieces together
“Once you had put the pieces back together, even though you may look intact, you were never quite the same as you’d been before the fall.”
Jodi Picoult
91. Ralph Waldo Emerson on being yourself
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
92. Charles Darvin on poetry and music
“If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week.”
Charles Darwin
93. Dr. Seuss on being old-fashioned
“They say I’m old-fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast!”
Dr. Seuss
94. Mark Twain on the ideal life
“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
Mark Twain
95. Jasper Fforde on books and real-life
“If the real world were a book, it would never find a publisher. Overlong, detailed to the point of distraction and ultimately, without a major resolution.”
Jasper Fforde
96. Barbara Kingsolver on bad things that happen
“Don’t try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When you’re good, bad things can still happen. And if you’re bad, you can still be lucky.”
Barbara Kingsolver
97. Terry Pratchett on wisdom
“Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom.”
Terry Pratchett
98. Anaïs Nin on what is necessary in life
“Luxury is not a necessity to me, but beautiful and good things are.”
Anaïs Nin
99. Kurt Vonnegut on the purpose of life
“A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”
Kurt Vonnegut
100. Colleen Huber on taking life too seriously
“Don’t take life too seriously. Punch it in the face when it needs a good hit. Laugh at it.”
Colleen Hoover
101. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry on getting hurt
“Of course we will hurt each other. But this is the very condition of existence. To become spring, means accepting the risk of winter. To become presence, means accepting the risk of absence.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
102. Kahlil Gibran on existence
“In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of you are found all the aspects of existence.”
Kahlil Gibran
103. Émile Zola on the reason for being here
“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.”
Émile Zola
104. Terry Pratchett on life
“It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it’s called Life.”
Terry Pratchett
105. Elie Wiesel on friendship
“Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.”
Elie Wiesel
106. Friedrich Nietzsche on the reason to live
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
107. Arthur C. Clarke on intelligent life
“I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here.”
Arthur C. Clarke
108. Jay Asher on the impact you have on others
“No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same.”
Jay Asher
109. Albert Einstein on branches of the same tree
“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man’s life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.”
Albert Einstein
110. Chuck Palahniuk on forgetting pain
“It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace.”
Chuck Palahniuk
111. Ralph Waldo Emerson on going where the path leads
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I hope you enjoyed this collection of inspirational quotes about life. What are your favorite quotes from this list?
Stay victorious!
